Thought processes and conversations started under the tilted cap of Tropicana Field. Someday everyone will know the Rays play in St. Petersburg, Florida, not TAMPA, or the fictitious city of TAMPA BAY.

Rays Should give Crawford an Extension

Mark Carlson / AP

On September 30,2009 Carl Crawford, the veteran player of the Tampa Bay Rays made it be known through the Tampa Tribune in an interview with writer Marc Lancaster that he would be open to discussions of an contract extension past the 2010 season. The news was viewed with excitement in the stands of Tropicana Field as it was made known by one of the Rays most popular players that he basically sees an upward change in the franchise and would love to further explore where this team is heading in the coming years.

“We are very pleased to hear C.C.’s comments,” Tampa Bay Rays Executive Vice President Andrew Friedman told the St. Petersburg Times on September 30th when Crawford announced he would be willing to discuss a possible extension to stay with the Rays. “Consistent with our policy, we do not speak publicly about contract negotiations but obviously we have a tremendous amount of respect for Carl both on and off the field. He has been a big part of our past success and I expect he will be a big part of our future success as well.”

Andrew, you bet your sweet booty you want to keep one of the most exciting players in baseball right where he is right now. Considering the Rays have a $10-11.5 million club option to consider before the beginning of the 2010 season, you can bet they will exercise that option and possibly make amends to keep C C well beyond the 2010 season. And if for some reason the deal does go sour in any way, you can expect an endless bulk of boos and article written until the cows come home about the Rays biggest PR blunder of your administration.

But first off, most Rays fans have to heed a bit from getting overexcited by the comments knowing that the pace at which Crawford performed in 2009 hitting both personal and club record in several categories during the season, he might have to give the Rays a bit of a ” local discount” to have the Rays retain him past the 2010 season. And right now, without knowing the expected payroll amount set by Rays owner Stuart Sternberg, Crawford might be the biggest question mark right now.

Gail Burton / AP

Granted he has made comment showing an olive branch out to the Rays organization, and wants to stay here and hopefully be a part of another winning team that thrust hard into the playoffs, but can the Rays retain him without damaging their payroll expectations and fit him perfectly into the team plans all the way through to maybe 2014?

Because of his upward mobility daily in the Major League Baseball All-Time charts, he is quickly establishing himself as a potential Hall of Fame caliber player, with a long career still in front of him. And if you were to compare him with the best active players at his position, he would surely command a $15 million plus a year salary in the big cities like Chicago or New York. So would Crawford be willing to give the team that deep of a discount to play for a potential winner, while also adding to his own reputation in the American League.

Crawford finally got to experience that winning feeling with the Rays in 2008, and it just might be in the Rays best interest to surround him with the best talent they can afford to again hit that plateau before the team hits a wall and might have to cut back, maybe as soon as 2014. I know that is a long time away, but it is micro-seconds in baseball years. The career of a Major League player is long in comparison to some sports, but the risk factors are extremely higher considering the daily grind of 162 games a season.

But would the Rays use his “leg fatigue” as a bargaining tool, when in reality he has appeared in 150+ game for his fifth season of his career. And if you consider what he can do once he hits the base paths, well Crawford might leave this game as one of the best who ever laced up a pair of Nike’s by the time he calls it a career.

Crawford is only the third American League player in this decade to reach the 60+ steals mark joining Boston’s Jacoby Ellsbury ( 69/2009) and the Angels Chone Figgins (62/2005). To further illustrate what he can do on the base paths, you only have to look at the May 3,2009 game against the Boston Red Sox to see how he can command a game all by himself. His 81.9 percent stolen base attempts rank first among active MLB players. He also became one of only 25 players since 1900 to steal 60 bases and get 60 RBI in the same season. And he is 1 of 6 to accomplish that in the last 20 years.

Crawford currently has the 6 highest stolen base totals in Rays history, and has hit the 50+ steals mark a record 5 times, which is the best among active players. And he is only the 16th player since 1900 with 5-50+ steal seasons. And he has been clocked going from first to second in 3.1 seconds, which is a bit faster than recent Hall of Fame member Rickey Henderson in his prime.

Jeff Roberson / AP

But Crawford is not a one-dimensional player. He has also made some incredible plays on defense and might be one of the most under rated outfielder in the game since the Golden Glove are not awarded by just his field position( leftfield) but by the outfield in general. The best example of how Crawford can turn a game around might be in the May 6th contest against the Boston Red sox where he stole a total of 6 bases, and became only the fourth player to ever accomplish that feat. He was even the first to do it since June 30, 1996, when Eric Young of the Colorado Rockies was the last to hit that plateau.

These statistics might even make the Rays job harder to consider that he has just turned 28 this August 5th, and his 353 stolen bases rank 7th best since 1900. His 92 triples ranks him 12th since 1900, and the most since Cardinal Stan Musial. His 1,244 hits rank him 8th best since 1900. Such feats have seemed to come easy to the young outfielder who played in his 1,000 Major League game on June 27, 2009 against the Florida Marlins.

Hard to believe that the Rays All Time leader in runs, runs scored, hits, at bats, stolen bases, doubles and triples, games played and RBI has only played in 1,000 contests. And let’s take a look at his triples for a moment, he is currently third among active players with only Yankee outfielder Johnny Damon (95) and Philly shortstop Jimmy Rollins (94) having more than Crawford’s 92 triples. But he was also 4th in the American League with 41 infield hits in 2009.

And if all of the above information was not mind boggling enough for Rays Vice President of Baseball Operations and Silverman to consider, here are another few facts that point to the special place Crawford is heading in the coming years. He has now hit above .300 for the fourth time in the last five seasons for the Rays. This season he had a career high 51 walks and his 2009 On-Base Percentage of .364 is 34 points high than any other time in his career.

Add onto that package the fact he hit his 500th RBI on September 20th against Toronto’s Roy Halladay with a 2-run homer. At the end of the 20
09 season, Crawford was 10ht in hits (185), 9th in multi-hit games with 54 this season, and 5th in triples with 8 in 2009. Crawford has become the quintessential Rays player, and a good foundation for the club both in character and in his on-field behavior.

The 3-time American League All Star even took fans and players breath away in this season’s All Star game in St. Louis with his catch high above the AL Bullpen fence to rob the National League’s Brad Hawpe of a potential go-ahead home run in the 7th inning of that game. As Crawford stood there with MLB Commissioner Bud Selig that night, you saw the boyish charm of Crawford, and so did the rest of the MLB community.

Jeff / Tom Gannam /AP

I guess the best thing right now is to let Crawford’s comments to Lancaster om September 30th begin to close out this blog: “I don’t like worrying about it,” Crawford said to the Tampa Tribune, “and you can sit there and say you’re not worried about it, but to not know what your future’s going to be in the next five or six years or so is definitely … it makes you scared at times.”

“I just hope we can do something. It’s uncomfortable worrying about it. I don’t like playing cautious. You’d be a liar if you say you didn’t play cautious when you have to go through contracts and stuff like that. I want to just be able to play baseball, don’t worry about nothing else.”

So it is your court now Rays front office. This is your time to shine and to make this contract extension a show of good faith and prosperity you hope this team embodies for the next 5 or 6 years. Crawford should be the backbone of the Rays squads in that time period, and if he is not, it might be a clear indication of the team desire to scale back and let the next generation of Rays players get their shots.

It is so hard to for someone like me to adequately decipher and assess a monetary value to Crawford since his stock has risen every season since 2003, and he just might be hitting his prime right now in his career. But if you look at the numbers he has obtained in a period of 5 full seasons now, the numbers are staggering, even without the addition of dollar signs to his name. And if the Rays can get his at a reduced price and regain that winning feeling, it is a huge plus for the Rays franchise to have a player like Crawford at the forefront leading these Rays onto the field.

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22 Comments

I honestly can’t imagine the Rays letting Crawford go. Yes, there are financial constraints. But he’s been the face of the franchise for so long. And, as you point out, he’s anything but a one-dimensional player. If I had to bet, I’d say they’ll pay up and keep him.

Jane,
You know I thought the same thing when they resigned Scott Kazmir to an extension two years ago……..Now he is an Angel.
If Crawford left, it would equal to me, Derek Jeter leaving the Yankees.
A sense of the team would go with him, which will bring bad karma ( in my opinion).

Rays,
I hope Crawford does stay with the Rays. The Rays are a young and fun team to watch. My brother Vic and I were going thru all the current players that came first thru the Rays organization. There are plenty of these players l
.
I was watching Carlos Pena tonght on MLBTV
Emmahttp://crzblue.mlblogs.com/

Emma,
If he did get traded, the backlash would be felt like a termor all the way to L A.
The Rays front office can not take another publicity hit like that since the trade of Scott Kazmir. They will not fold up and go away, but the fans will be sure to voice and show their disapproval, me included.
He is the first of the Rays crop that has stayed, but there are plenty who have come through the system in other places right now.

Cliff – it is frustrating – we want them to keep players who are not only fan favorites, but who also can help the team succeed. But then our teams can cruelly remind us that baseball really is a “big business”. I hope that the Rays understand what they have in Crawford and do what is necessary to keep him

Julia,
Believe me, I know it is big business.
And that is one of the sad things about today’s baseball empires.
Sometimes the business end gets so complicated you forget the personal, and one of your guys is gone on to another team.
I know the teams doesn’t have a crystal ball, or even a psychic who could look into “who will hit, who will not”, but sometimes you wish they did to keep the good guys.

Bronx,
As some so elegantly stated before, it is a business, and you never know what they are going to do anymore.
With the budget needed some sort of “downsizing” before the 2010 season, there are many place where this could happen.
Burrell and Crawford might be the first two decisions, after that, Aki and some fixes for the Bullpen might be high on the agenda.

Cat,
That is as blunt as anyone could put it, and total in line with my thoughts too.
I would hate to see this team disbanded at all before they get another chance to try and provide some more “magic”.
But we do not pull the purse strings, even if it is some of our money that makes it possible.

Cat,
I have decided to change the picture every two days during the off season to bring some sort of new image to the page every couple of days.
Even if I am posting every day, sometimes the simple things can bring you back again…..and again.
The photo was taken after I did the taping for the “Braveknobs” in-game video with ex-WWE wrestler Brian Knobs of the Nasty Boys fame.
I had fun in the video, and Brian had fun lifting me up 6 inches off the ground like a bench press barbell.

Cat,
I like to call him our obnoxious and beer-guzzling 10th man.
He is actually pretty funny and a great out-going guy out and about after the games.
Well, when he isn’t getting kicked out of Fenway Park that is….(lol)

Getting rid of CC would actually be a kick in the butt for the Front Office. They already have a bunch of fans who are unhappy. From where I sit, i think that to trade another “fan fave” would be a PR disaster worse than the one when Kaz left. The team doesn’t need that. They do need CC.

I totally agree that trading CC is like trade Jeter. Or Seattle trading Ichiro.

Ginny,
Believe me, Seattle will not ever trade Ichiro, but they could add Matsui since he will probably not fit into the Yankees plan in 2010.
C C leaving because of the Rays front office not responding with a good offer would be a stake to the heart.
I know it would greatly effect how I view the Rays 3rd Floor any any activity from that point on.
Even though they do not care what I think.
I think both sides will do what is needed to get this done and show good faith all around….If not, it will be a radioactive situation.

Peter,
I hate to agree with that, but that is the fiscal reality of being a smaller market team.
The Pat Burrell fiasco has crippled the playroll, and he has to be dealt with, or the fan base relaxed to a point where we understand if he is not useful, he will be jettisoned like a bad piece of fish into the bay.
CC will be a high priority on the agenda because he has that high threshold of beginning to show his stardom.
Hopefully, we can address it without breaking the baks, and making each party happy for years to come.

I gotta agree with ya here. He’s the face of the franchise and you need that leadership he brings. Plus, dude, I was at Busch when he made that catch… if he could crush my soul with one defensive gem, he can crush anyone (or any team)’s.
–Jeffhttp://redstatebluestate.mlblogs.com/

Jeff,
I felt for you that day.
First Erin Andrews and then Carl Crawford makes that catch in front of a stunned Bobby Ramos in the Bullpen area.
We all know if he played anywhere else he would get a Gold Glove and maybe even a huge contract.
But he is being real and willing to work to stay here and grow something positive………..money can not buy that kind of loyalty.

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